Display stands



Sept. 9, 1958 G. w. MASON ETAL 2,851 168 DISPLAY STANDS I Filed NOV. 8, 1955 1477 ORA/E VS United States Patent DISPLAY STANDS George W. Mason and Bruce D. Gee,.0tisville, Mich. ApplicationNovember 8, 1955;Serial No. 545,588.

2 Claims. (Cl. 211'60) This invention relates to display stands for fishing leaders and the like.

Fishing leaders and lures which include lines of various small diameter are difiicult to display, and due to their flexibility, etc., ofttimes become entangled and snarled, consequently, it is diflicult to remove an individual leader after it has been selected by the customer, or to return it to the display device after being inspected.

Therefore, one of the prime objects of the invention is to design a very simple, practical and inexpensive display device, especially adapted for display of fishing leaders and the like, which will accommodate a very large number of leaders and obviate the above mentioned disadvantages, by providing a device which can be easily loaded and/or unloaded, either with but a few leaders or large numbers thereof while displaying the goods to best advantage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a very simple, practical and substantial display device which can be readily mounted on a display board or the like; which is neat and attractive in appearance, and which is readily foldable into small boxes or cartons for shipment and/ or storage purposes.

Another object of the invention is to design a display device which displays the merchandise in such manner that the individual leaders cannot become entangled.

Another object still of the invention is to design a display device which permits the customer to choose any one of the fishing leaders or articles on the device and remove same without removing any of the other articles suspended thereon.

Still a further object of the invention is to design a device in which the leaders are retained in the slits in the device even though the device be tilted or tipped entirely over.

A further object still is to design a device which is light in weight and of durable construction, which has readily releasable means for locking the leaders in the slits, and which is very economical to manufacture and assemble on a quantity production basis.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and, arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and more particularly pointed out in the appending claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportion and minor details of construction, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an perspective face elevational view showing a display card with our improved display device in place thereon and the fishing leaders suspended thereon.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is an edge elevational view thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing wherein we have shown the preferred embodiment of our invention, the letter D indicates generally our display device which is preferably, but not. necessarily, formedv of plastic or similar material, said device comprising. a. horizontally disposed shelf section 8 having a vertically disposed back. section 9 formed .integralxtherewithand adapted to be secured to adisplay board 10 by means of clips 11 or the like, said board having a foldable leg section 12 at the. lower edge thereof which when swung at right angles to the board, serves to supportsaid board in its upright position.

A plurality of spaced apart, angularlydisposed slits S are formed in the shelf section- 9m form leaves-14..therebetween, these, slits being. of a. size; to readily accommodate the filamentary: wireleader lines L, shown in Fig. l of the drawing. Each leader line L has an enlarged swivel member 15 at its upper end and eyes 16 and 17 are provided on opposite sides of the swivel to permit attachment of the line L, and a fishing line (not shown). A thin snap loop 18 is provided on the opposite end of the line L as usual. The swivel 15 is of larger diameter than the width of the slits S so that the swivel cannot pass therethrough, however the thin snap loop 18 which is secured to the lower end of the leader line L is sufii-ciently thin so that it readily passes through the slits, fiatwise, to permit removal of any desired leader by raising it vertically and drawing it through the slit. A rolled locking member M forms a closure for the open end of the leaves 14, said member being U-shaped in cross section, so that the ends of the leaves frictionally are gripped between the legs 19 as shown, thus holding the leaders in position without snarling or entanglement, and permitting removal of any individual leader by raising it vertically through the slit, but without interfering with the remaining leaders in said slit.

To load and unload the device is a very simple matter, it requires only that the locking member M be removed and the ends of slits are then open so that leaders L may readily pass in the slits between the leaves, said leaders being supported by their swivels 15 which are of larger diameter than the width of the slits S. If the customer desires a leader which is inward of the other leaders in the slit, it is simply necessary to grasp the upper eye or swivel 15, and pull the leader vertically through the groove. Slits of various widths can of course be provided to accommodate different leaders or different size leaders as desired, and it will be further understood the device may be used for displaying and suspending merchandise and articles of various kinds.

It is to be understood that the drawing and descriptive matter are in all instances to be interpreted as merely illustrative of the principle of the invention, rather than in limiting the scope thereof, since it is contemplated that various changes may be made in the various elements to achieve like results without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the annexed claims.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for supporting in substantially vertical position filamentary material having an enlargement at one end, said apparatus comprising a plate having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces, said plate having at least one slit therein extending from one edge of said plate to a point adjacent to the opposite edge of said plate, said slit having a width greater than the thickness of said filamentary material but less than the thickness of said enlargement so as to prevent passage of said enlargement through said slit; means connected to said plate for supporting the latter in substantially horizontal position so that filamentary material may be suspended from said plate by engagement of said enlargement with the upper surface of said plate; and a substantially U-shaped looking member frictionally gripping the upper and lower surfaces of said plate at said one edge of said plate to provide a removable closure for said slit adjacent to said one edge.

2. The combination with a filamentary element having one end enlarged relative to the remainder of its length, of apparatus for removably suspending said element in substantially vertical position, said apparatus comprising a plate having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces and having at least one slit therein extending from one edge of said plate to a point adjacent to the opposite edge thereof, said slit having a width greater than the thickness of said element but less than the thickness of the enlarged end of said element so as to prevent passage of said enlarged end through said slit, means connected to said plate for supporting the latter in substantially horizontal position, said element being received in said slit with its enlarged end in engagement with-the upper surface of said plate, and a substantially U-shaped locking 4 member removably and frictionally gripping the upper and lower surfaces of said plate at said one edge of said plate to provide a removable closure for said slit adjacent to said one edge of said plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 257,084 Scott Apr. 25, 1882 284,995 Baker Sept. 18, 1883 755,555 Weaver Mar. 22, 1904 1,701,783 Law Feb. 12, 1929 1,748,469 Desmarais Feb. 25, 1930 1,997,310 Roege Apr. 9, 1935 2,028,694 Spinks Jan. 21, 1936 2,119,217 Rocchi May 31, 1938 2,291,381 Drake July 28, 1942 

